DCS file details deaths of Smyrna toddlers left in hot car

Staff had visited home twice before kids left in vehicle

10:57 AM,
Nov. 20, 2013

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There was no reason for two Smyrna children to be placed in the back seat of the black Pontiac where they were left to die on a summer day.

The car's license plates were expired. Its engine did not run.

That's what authorities found when they tried to start the car Aug. 2, 2012, according to records recently released by the Department of Children's Services. That day, 2-year-old Daniel and 3-year-old Savannah Marise died in the car and their mother, Samantha Harper, 25, was jailed. ...